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On Belonging - Bill Gillard
The psychologist Abraham Maslow has produced a hierarchy of needs to assist us in our development and growth. This progressive ladder of needs that ultimately leads us to self-actualization, or in other words finding our true self, commences at the bottom of the rung with the very basic need that all people possess, to ensure they have the essentials for sustaining life and safety. The second basic need Maslow suggests is to gain the assurance of “belonging” to a group. Someone made a very true statement, when they said, “No man is an island,” and to know that we belong to a family, church or other organization that values you as a person is so important for our life’s journey. The famous German writer Goethe once said, “More than anything else, people want to be noticed, recognized.” When Jesus walked this earth two thousand years ago, faithful followers who were referred to as “disciples” usually surrounded him. This group of people walked together great distances along dusty roads; they would have eaten together and talked about important issues raised by their Lord. As they came to know each other they formed a close tight knit community that provided a wonderful ministry to all they met. A recurrent theme throughout the history of the Christian Church is that of creating a loving, caring community. The story of the Early Church as told in Acts emphasizes the importance of building relationships among believers. A survey conducted amongst American Christians showed that the six most mentioned needs they had were:
I note that none of these needs can be met alone. We need to belong to a community in order for them to be met. These are needs that must be met if we are to be a true disciple. All of these needs can be met in a church community where we have the sense of belonging. Practicing love, acceptance, appreciation and commitment eventually means finding ourselves close to people. It is the way that friendships are formed. Living out these principles will eventually mean finding ourselves close to people in crises and with problems we might never have imagined ourselves being closely involved with. These situations are of course the risks we take when we form friendships. Faced with these things we so often feel overwhelmed, inadequate, frightened, anxious, overburdened or even judgmental. However, it is at this point we begin to feel the force of the principle of mutual ministry that can rise up out of a “belonging” community. Here we see the great value arising from forming such a group of people. In particular, we are learning what it means in I Corinthians 12:26 where it says that, “if one part of the body suffers, all other parts suffer with it” – not just in sympathy, but in the effort we make to bring ministry in caring, prayer or other practical service to meet needs. On the other hand we also learn, “If one part is praised, all other parts share its happiness” – the same quality of pride and delight as found in a family. Our congregations should not be a group of people who show up on a Sunday to attend a weekly religious event. The real church is the people who are emotionally connected by their mutual and stated love for Christ and by their commitment to each other because of Christ. The objective for each of us is to be able to say about our church, our congregation, “This is where I belong!” Bill Gillard
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